The Farang, the Gora and the Gwai Lo: A Hotelier’S Journey Around the World

By Tamir Kobrin

In today's world, where cultures and people get the opportunity to interact through the globalization of expatriate work, the author captures not only the unique senses and feeling of each destination that he experienced but also provides an in-depth insight into the nuances that enable an expatriate to manage effectively in a foreign country. The unique element of the luxury hotel business adds a sense of drama and excitement to what it takes to be a hotel general manager, a successful one, from the author's vast experience, suggestions, and viewpoints into effective leadership and successful integration in a new location.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504929066

Tamir Kobrin

Tamir Kobrin, an internationally well-traveled hotelier who has lived and worked in over twelve countries and five continents, shares his experiences of living and working in foreign countries as an expat, managing people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Tamir shares his experiences of leadership and managing luxury hotels, as well as the sights and sounds of the destinations, the cuisine, and the experiences that depict a sense of place and time to enable the reader the insight into what it takes to travel and work in foreign destinations.

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© 2015 Tamir Kobrin. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/13/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-2907-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-2906-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015913016

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Aknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter 1 Il Directore

Chapter 2 Frankincense and Myrrh

Chapter 3 Coconuts and Seagulls

Chapter 4 Ceiling Fans and Bicycles

Chapter 5 Dim Sum Trolleys and Shanghai Tang

Chapter 6 Land of Smiles and Frangipani

Chapter 7 From Minarets and Souks to the Land of the Maharajas

Chapter 8 Rolling out the Red Carpet, Chopin, and a Rolls Royce

Epilogue

To Kathrine, my inspiration to keep going and embark on our next journey together, with your wisdom, guidance and love!

Aknowledgements

I couldn’t have written this book without embarking on this career with the support of my parents, Isaac and Ester and my sister Idit Kobrin, all of whom have been there throughout the years supporting and encouraging. There are many people along this journey that need to be thanked, for giving me a chance, opportunity and believing in me to get to this result, this book.

Mr. Haim Shkedi, Ms. Anchalika Kijkanakorn, Mr. Shashank Warty, Ms. Renu Kapoor, Mrs. Madhu Nair, the late Captain Krishnan Nair (Chairman), my friend Mr. Saurabh Bhatnagar, Mr. Sirio Maccioni and his sons Mauro, Mario and Marco. Last but not least, to my mentor, Mr. Rajiv Kaul, who encouraged me to go the extra mile, even during tough times!

I have been fortunate enough to cross paths with many more people and touch many others across continents and countries, far and close, whom still reach out to learn about our next sojourn.

Prologue

I guess it all started at a young age: my fascination with history, architecture, beautiful buildings, and the romance behind a structure that invites people to have an experience within it—a hotel.

I remember early on, while walking past an entrance of a grand hotel, being intrigued by the doorman with his majestic outfit, waiting to assist arriving guests—by the grandeur of it all. The luxury limousines, the drivers in black suits and black ties, and the entry of the hotel were so intimidating yet so fascinating. Who was staying there tonight? Who was checking in? And who was ready to leave? The story that can and cannot be told and the secrets of what takes place behind those doors was what caught my fascination early on.

I do not come from a family of hoteliers, but my early years of traveling with my family around Europe truly inspired my imagination. Early on, my dream was to own and run my own little luxury property. I have kept this dream alive and keep aspiring to achieve my goal, which I will. My philosophy has always been in the details of creating an experience: the location, the building, the stories, the history, the marriage between cultures, and the creation of memories. Hence I have taken my time to find the right property that I can one day transform and make my own.

I have been blessed with the talent of speaking several languages; this has opened doors to places that I never imagined existed, much less be fascinated to live in. Languages break all the barriers. This enables you to be welcomed, well-received, listened to, and respected. It is such a crucial skill in an hotelier’s journey and life. As a profession, it entails not only the ability to travel to and manage hotels and resorts, but also the ability to learn from and manage people, and to inspire, encourage, and develop them. This is something that I have been blessed with throughout the years of traveling and the journeys I took—the people. It’s all about the people you ultimately have to leave behind.

This is about sharing and of telling the stories and experiences that I have had traveling the world. Hopefully it will inspire you to travel and learn about cultures and people. The hospitality industry has a lot to offer, and I often find that those who take the risk and spread their wings benefit so much more through the mere fact of the sights and sounds, the character-building, and the perspective that travel cushions you with.

Take the risk and seek out the unknown; it’s scary at first, but it’s so worthwhile. But remember, there is a huge responsibility that comes with living and working in a foreign country with a different culture, language, and people. You are the one who has to try harder to be a good listener and be patient; and always remember that you have so much influence on the people around you. Use it wisely to inspire, coach, teach, tend to, and nurture. It will be worth your while.

Chapter 1

Il Directore

I T IS ALL A BIT faded now, but something resonated in me during my earlier years in Europe, completing my high school studies, traveling with the family, staying in hotels, having experiences, and sampling the cuisine. The grandeur of it all and my fascination with history and culture stuck. When you travel around Europe, the grand hotel in each city is like a statement, a place to see and be seen, and a place where stories are told and novels are written.

I remember making a point of walking into a hotel’s lobby, a luxury oasis, and finding a quiet corner to observe, stare, and see the theater that transpired. It was all mesmerizing—the refined concierges with their golden keys (clefs d’or) on their lapels, the music, the sound of the luggage carts, the bellman with the signboard, and the bell paging a guest. The people were all dressed up, ready for an evening out, coming for a meal, or waiting to meet friends. A hotel is a series of experiences that all somehow correspond to a well-orchestrated, well-rehearsed movie set. You know someone is watching over to ensure that it all somehow works.

There he was, coming down the grand staircase: the hotel’s general manager. You could not miss him; immaculately dressed in his suit and tie, pocket square, and shined shoes, he was tall and straight of posture. You immediately knew he was the man in charge. He had an elegance about him in the way he glided through the lobby down from the staircase. In my peripheral vision, I could see the eyes looking around, noticing the flowers, the light bulbs, the carpet, and the uniforms on the staff in the lobby. The music level had to be just right, with the clocks behind the reception desk showing the correct time, the driveway free and clear of cars, the luggage tucked out of sight and neatly organized on a trolley away from the viewpoint of the guests, and the reception desk clean and clear, without any clutter. It all had to be perfect, as it all was a reflection of him, the man in charge, the hotel’s general manager.

After a quick glance at one of the staff members, a shirt collar was fixed; he did not miss a thing. The staff stood erect, knowing that he was there, observing, looking, and noticing all the fine details. In walked Mr. X. The manager reached his hand with confidence and greeted him warmly, welcoming him back to the hotel. After a small conversation, he politely and elegantly whisked himself away toward the doorway because Mrs. Y had just stepped out of the house car. He was there to greet her and escort her right up to her suite, avoiding the front desk and the formalities. They disappeared into the elevator, which was already held and kept exclusively so there were no delays—straight-up elegance and discretion.

This was the drama, the involvement, and the theater that transpires in a hotel’s lobby.

I was there, in the far corner of the lobby, with my pinstripe jacket and open-collar blue shirt, brown shoes, and pocket square—always in color—enjoying the sights and seeing him, the general manager, in action. Oh, was I inspired! That was what started it all. I vividly remember thinking to myself, I can do this. I can be like that. I can be charming, warm, charismatic, and multilingual (which I already was at the time). I can pull it off.

So I went off to study the business—where else but in the Swiss Alps. The best thing about the Swiss hotel-management program was the interchange between the six months one spent on campus and the six months one had to go out and work as a trainee. This was by far the most hands-on opportunity to determine early on if you were cut out for this grueling profession or not. Those six months on the job, whether as a waiter, receptionist, housekeeper, or accountant, built you and gave you a little insight, although maybe not the most realistic kind. As a trainee, you always had to pick up the dirty work and the slack of the operation, but it was a taste of what was to come: the pressure, the expectation, the long hours, the holidays, late nights, early mornings, and the vacation time that you were working while others were relaxing. It all came down to making that sacrifice to see the hotel operation from the ground up—the theater that happened behind the scenes.

I was lucky. During my three years at the hotel-management school, I had the opportunity to work in some of the finest hotels alongside senior hoteliers, seeing and experiencing the essence of it all. It was a tough experience at times; not all was rosy behind the scenes at the grandest, oldest establishments in Europe.

But I went back to that theater, that hotel lobby, this time not looking from the far corner as I used to, not sneaking in and enjoying the oasis of that grand hotel. This time I was in a pressed uniform, my hair all slicked back, at the riverside fine-dining restaurant of that hotel. Wow, here I am! I made it! I was getting a taste of it all and being part of the set, and the stage was ready for me to perform.

There he was, on my first day as a trainee: the hotel’s general manager. Up close, he was so much more intimidating and serious; he had a look in his eyes that said, "I mean business." You were not always sure if you could approach him, but he always made himself available to ask a question. Maybe he would ask me to arrange something that was out of place or bring something needed to a guest. I could catch his attention just that once in the day—a spotlight on me, the aspiring young hotelier. I wanted to be like him, yes I did, with the guests and the staff all looking for my attention, a moment from me, Mr. General Manager.

One thing you learn very early on in the grand hotels of Europe is that you are most likely going to be surrounded by fellow staff members who are not from the place where you are working. Seasonal staff comes from all over, from Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Greece. For the majority of them, being a waiter was a lifelong career. They did this for a living. They had no desire to be the general manager. They came, did their work, and went home. But for me, all I wanted to be was the general manager. That immediately made our circumstances very different. I aspired early on to learn many facets of the work area and responsibility, rather than concentrating on the duty I had for that day. I wanted to see and learn the big picture. How did it all come together? My coworkers knew that I would be the general manager. My nickname early on was Il Directore. My Italian maître d’ from Napoli thought it appropriate to constantly call me Il Directore, as he felt inspired by me—young me, his busser. Go figure!

I guess this was a good indication that my blessing and gift was the people around me whom I was able to connect with. It was a gift that propelled me to make friends as soon as I could and be recognized by my coworkers. But it also brought with it the watchful eyes of managers who did not see the need or importance of encouragement and a working environment of contentment and team workmanship. One learns early on that the hotel industry is littered with professionals whose philosophy is the complete opposite of mine. Theirs is one of power-hunger, resentment, and discontentment with a happy working environment. They foster a need for constant tension and fear created by them to ensure that they are recognized as being in charge. This old-world philosophy of management has already been tested and tried, written about, and studied in the finest management institutions of the world. Alas, it is still a common practice in the hotel-service environment, where the daily tension of excellence and achievement is ruled by the power of an individual’s quest to succeed. This sometimes transpires with complete disregard for the people who make it all happen: the theater-makers, the service providers, and the seasonal workers who make it their lifelong career to serve. They do not aspire to be Mr. General Manager, so just a pat on the back to say Excellent work today. Thank you! is all it takes.

So simple, right? Well, not as simple as it may seem.

My days as Il Directore at my first job at that grand hotel made me think, Wow, you have so much you can give and do for people when you become the general manager—whom I did not get the chance to see very often during my time there. You can do so much more, I thought. The gift of leadership is that it gives you, in the palm of your hand, the power to create excellence through people by nurturing and developing them so they make you, the performance, and the environment of the workplace better. It is a power the general manager has when he is walking around, shaking hands, and knowing the staff by name. It’s a simple smile of acknowledgment to a staff member when crossing the back corridors that says, Yes, you exist. You can make their day by just a simple gesture; as natural as it may seem, it is not so common or evident in our industry. We still have a long way to go to ensure that leaders are natural, compassionate, and caring. I knew I had the gift and that I must use it well to advance my career.

Those days as a trainee came to an end after my years studying in the Alps, and here I was, ready to embark on a long career of hospitality. I still remember those general managers in the grand hotels, so different from one another. Each had a magic that inspired me to continue my studies and long for this career ahead. They were not perfect, those general managers, but they each had a something—a something that made them